Prep track roundup

April 25, 2003

BOYNE CITY - Fueled by seven first-place finishes, the Harbor Spring boys' track team continued its strong season by winning the 10-team Boyne City Rotary Invitational Thursday at Earl Brotherston Field.

The Rams finished with 127 points, while Gaylord St. Mary came in a distant second with 74 1/2. East Jordan, 66, was third, followed by St. Ignace, 65 points; Charlevoix, 64; Traverse City St. Francis, 44; Rogers City, 30; Elk Rapids, 28; Boyne City, 25; and Bellaire, 3 1/2.

"For being a very tired team, we did a very nice job," Harbor Springs coach Emily Kloss said. "I thought we had some amazing performances and everybody as a whole did very well."

James Loubert led the Harbor boys as he captured the discus with a throw of 147 feet, 3 inches; and the shot put, 47-0. Habor's other firsts came from Mark Morse, high jump, 5-feet-9; Jake Kloss, 1600, 4 minutes, 34.71 seconds; and Adam Moody, 200, 24.43 seconds.

The Rams also won the 1600 and 3200 relays. Robbie Noehles, Luke Rondel, Kevin Ronk and Sandy Frye teamed to win the 1600 relay in 3:35.89, while Josh Hofbauer, Chad Wenz, Rondel and Noehles combined to captured the 3200 relay in 8:37.21.

"Our (1600) relay team had its fastest finish since the regional last year," Kloss said. "And we had some surprises from Vlad (Stas, third place) in the long jump and Adam (Moody) winning the 200. Our throwers once again did very well and they always seem to consistently get us points."

Harbor's Cassie Niersel continued her strong season in the girls' portion of the meet as she won the 3200 in 12:23.34, and placed second in the 1600.

"I thought Ali Church and Katie Nowels really stepped it up yesterday," Kloss said. "That was nice to see."

Boyne City won three events: The 3200 relay; Katie Martin, pole vault, 9-6; and Kim Foster, high jump, 4-11.

Charlevoix had two second places from its 800 relay team and from Jasmine Witthoeft, long jump.

East Jordan junior Courtney Hammond won two events, the 100, 13.16; and the 200, 27.47.

For the East Jordan boys, Josh Sheridan had a strong day as he took first in the 100, 11.64; and the long jump, 18-8 1/2.

Kyle Kramer led Charlevoix as he won the pole vault, 14-0, and the Rayders won the 400 relay, 46.01. The Rayders also had a pair of second-place finishes from Spencer Bryan, 110 hurdles; and Ben Bergmann, 300 hurdles.

For Boyne City, Randall Sutton was second in the long jump and the 200.

East Jordan, Charlevoix and Harbor Springs will all compete in the Heidi Steiner Invitational Monday, April 28, in Bellaire.

Following are event winners with time, distance or height, along with placers from area schools. Key: Harbor Springs (HS), Gaylord St. Mary (SM), East Jordan (EJ), St. Ignace (SI), Charlevoix (CX), Traverse City St. Francis (SF), Rogers City (RC), Elk Rapids (ER), Boyne City (BC), Bellaire (B).